thanks for watching. i'll be back on wednesday. "don lemon tonight" starts right now. hi, don lemon! >> wait a minute, i'll be back wednesday, too. but that's only because i'm burning the midnight oil. i've got my coffee ready. >> i'm going to watch you, i'm going to support you, i'm going to cheer on the whole election night in america team, but i will be in my pajamas doing that. >> don't we have a legal panel we can put laura on at 1:30 in the morning? >> i'm getting older, laura coates at 1:30 in the morning is not the bionic version.

>> laura, see you tomorrow. we're going to get to it. no, i'll see you the day after tomorrow. my bad. >> this is "don lemon tonight." what we were just talking about, we are hours away from one of the biggest primary elections this season. george kemp, t -- brian kemp ha strong lead over perdue. and tonight mike pence had to be hustled out of the capitol, remember, as rioters were chanting about hanging him. why were they doing that? all because he refused to throw out electoral votes, which he had no power to do, anyway. he is now campaigning for kemp. >> when you say yes to governor brian kemp tomorrow, you will

send a deafening message all across america that the republican party is the party of the future! >> a deafening message that is not going to sit well with his former boss who is all about 2020. no surprise. trump is slamming pence, calling him desperate to chase his lost relevance and claiming he is hoping someone is paying attention. he was saying that about someone else. projection, right? the gop primary will face democrat stacey abrams in november, and david perdue reach turns to race as he reaches twht may be the end of the line. listen to this. >> she said this is the worst country to live in. let her go back and she don't

like it here. the only thing she wants is to be president of the united states. she doesn't care about the people of georgia, that's clear. when she told black farmers, you.nyou don't need to be on the farm, and black workers, you don't need to be -- she should never be considered as governor of any state, much less our state where she hates to live. >> that was a whole lot and we're going to talk about it. "go back to where she came from"? stacey abrams was born in mississippi before attending college in georgia. demeaning her own race? it's not clear what comments he's referring to there, but what he did there was called playing the race card. president trump's hand-picked candidate may not win tomorrow. it will all unfold tomorrow night on our special coverage here on cnn, but here's the truth. the truth is the former president is still hugely

popular with his base. but is there something in the air and his party? the "washington post" is reporting on republican governors drawing a line in the sand to protect kemp. one former governor saying trump is running, quote, a personal vendetta tour in the primaries. this is about to get really, really interesting, so make sure you tune in. watch this space, as they say. i want to go right now to cnn's jeff zeleny in atlanta. he joins us there. jeff, good evening, good to see you. you were at the kemp rally and you heard mike pence speak tonight. what was his message? >> reporter: john, good evening. the message was largely ignoring donald trump. this was something we saw the former vice president mike pence. he's not been campaigning a lot really in recent weeks or months. this was his rueturn to the campaign trail. he'll be doing take lot more but he utterly ignored his once loyal president. he's been on his side, but he's put some distance between him r

themselves, but in this race, trump has been obsessed by defeating brian kemp. he's been obsessed by the fact that kemp and other officials here would not turn over the election. the fact mr. pence is here is really all you need to know. but he also described himself and validated governor kemp as he spoke like this. >> i'm a christian, a conservative and a republican in that order, and i am here to support brian kemp! i'm here because brian kemp, frankly, is one of the most successful republican governors in america. i can honestly say i was for brian kemp before it was cool. >> so, of course, over the last several weeks and months, former president trump has called brian kemp a turncoat, a loser, a variety of other words. you saw vice president pence

there using some words of his own to validate and support the candidacy of governor kemp. the reality is talking to republicans on the ground, talking to a lot of voters who say they like president trump, they're not sure if they would vote for him again, but they are not going to follow his lead on this. so what is likely to happen tomorrow is a kemp big win. the question is, will he win big enough to get oefrt 50% to avoid a runoff. the kemp campaign is very confident that it will. the perdue campaign is really running up against it. they've not been on television for more than a week. it's a pretty disparaging and embarrassing campaign coming to an end, that trump talked him into running for this election. the republicans want to move forward, not look back. >> a lot of republicans have been trying to get him to do that. that was a good line from pence.

i would have said, i was kemp before kemp was cool, like "i was country before country was cool." i digress. pence's endorsement of kemp is clearly a huge break from trump. how is the former president responding, jeff? >> he did not respond but his spokesperson really demeaned the former vice president. he said it was a disgrace. he said he's chasing lost relevance, he's trying to parachute ainto georgia to try o make himself important and relevant. the reality here, though, is it was no question that mike pence has long supported governor kemp. they've worked together. mike pence is a former governor. he was here, i was told, by one of his aides in the capacity as a former governor trying to reelect an incumbent. don, when you sort of sort out all the endorsements donald trump made in may, this one was

wildly different. it was so personal. this is an incumbent republican governor. the governor supported dr. oz. in ohio a few weeks ago, he supported j.d. vance. that was a public seat. this is totally different. that's why mike pence was here, and he again ignored donald trump, and the trump spokesman, we must assume the comment was blessed by the former president. he called his once former partner a disgrace. >> thank you, jeff. appreciate it. see you soon. i want to bring in john mccain, executive producer of the circus and political commentator alice stewart. >> hi, don. >> he's an adviser and of course alice stewart joins me as well. mike, mike pence says a vote for pence sends a deafening message

that the republican party is the party to see. >> it's the right one to get donald trump off the windshield and put him in the rearview mirror. this is going to be a stunning embarrassment for donald trump. it's not just any endorsement, it's the most important endorsement of trump's political life. this was vengeance that he wanted to serve cold, and it's not going to happen. there was a real behind-the-scenes story here where the republican governor's association got together last fall and decided they were going to play in a primary race, which is not what they normally do, but they thought it was important to protect -- for trump there is no greater sin, and to his credit, the camp us would also masking a lot of, i

would say, problematic lejts lugs. but. >> that reporting that mark is talking about is coming from the "washington post" throwing millions of dollars into kemp's campaign to preblgt him remember. will this have an impacts? >> i think the fact that he is a better candidate than anything like that. the truth is, i'm from georgia. i'm familiar with the voters in georgia, and they want someone who will be like kemp. he has followed the a's, b's, c's and d's as governor. he's been competent. what he's done when covid hit, he kept things open as fast as he possibly could.

he's also worked hard on keeping jobs open. he has cut tours but he's also got parents involved in education. he has beat stacey abrams in the past, and he can do it again. as opposed to what year seeing with perdue. even tonight, in talking with reporters, he said that the current polls that show him way behind are full of grap and he swent the if i recall of fraud. that's not what the. we're seeing kemp, the real 22 percentage points for trump or perdue. >> so you're saying he has a

chance. look, mark, donald trump couldn't help himself in georgia. he wanted some 11,000-odd votes. i just want you to find me those, but what does it say about the battle in the gop, instead of spending money to help them, chris and -- there is beginning to be a split. i think a lot of people around the country who look tat it, that's what they're talking about with a playbook. they talk about schools and rights and that's what governor youngkin talked about. the reality is, yes, there's lot of loyalty to trump and the party, but the reality also is that he's an anchor on a lot of -- on the strategy as far as

moving forward, because when you take trump out of the equation, republicans do better across the board. >> trump is accusing mike pence of chasing lost relevance. is it trump who is literally using magnets. is could have been said about tr trump. i assume we think he's going to lose. the truth is donald trump has a lot of stray in the valley. as mark as mentioned and you have said, this race and perdue is really the mantle, the centerpiece of former president trump's grievance tour, and this is going to be a huge loss for him as the polls come in.

look, i think -- you mentioned governor christy. he has also been on the campaign, by not talking about trump, talksing about the out and talking about the issues. thuft cringes khristy says. he's had questioning over him attacking him on various results. >> those are remarks from david perdue putting race on this at the last moment. is this the best way to appeal to stacey abrams? why even do it? >> when you ain't got a whistle,

whistle, don, and whistle hard. and apparently steve bannon wasn't far from him at the time. it's unfortunate, but it's not surprising. >> also, at the same time, don, it's unfortunate she said that, that it's the worst state she's lived in. there are worse things to go after stacey abrams on, her issues of georgia. those should be the focus of any spot the way per do you was goi going at it earlier. this is the best state. that's why i'm running for governor. this was not the way to do t. alice, can i talk to you about this other key pras we're watching. that's the alabama-and the

president asked him to be part of the 2022 election. is this a race a referendum on the big lie? >> it appears that brooks is really making up some ground. what this boils down to, again, not focusing on the past, focusing on the future and in this case on the issues important to the people of alabama. mel brooks was a dead man walking not too long ago, but really worked in terms of meeting with the people, grassroots campaign getting good seizure and the moving forward of republicans is in november. >> get your sheet now.

so you've got to see this, right? the crowd at a punk rock concert in st. petersburg this weekend chatting, "f the war r" is there a moral kritsz in putin's russia. i'm going to ask another official who could be wrong. cal: w we've saved our money, d now we get to spend it our way. val: but we worry if we have enough to last. for retirement plannining, investment advice, and more, look for a cfp® professional. cfp® professionals can help you craft a complete financial plan that gives you confidence today and tomorrow find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org. cal: our confident forever plan is possible with a cfp® professional. ♪

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this week marks three months since vladamir putin invaded ukraine in a brutal war. we're hearing more people stand up to him. listen to what happened at a punk rock concert in st. petersburg over the weekend. so it's an "f the war, f the war" and then there is diplomat boris bondurev putting in his resignation today saying, and i quote, for 20 years in my

diplomatic career i have seen several changes in policy, but never have i been so upset over this year. one russian officer told cnn he quit the war because he felt guilty about russia invading ukraine. let's discuss now. cnn commentary analyst philip mudd is here. we'll see where this leads. good evening to you. if you had to add all these up, it looks like a level of public dissent against the war we haven't seen inside russia. should we be cautious about reading too much into this? >> yeah, i confess, a career intelligence analyst, i'm a negative guy and a skeptic despite how i appear to you sort of off camera, don. i look at this and say be careful. you're looking at a couple

incidents. you're seeing an individual prosecuted in ukraine. you're seeing an individual who resigned from the russian u.n. mission. you see this concert. those are data points. that is not a trend. let me tell you as an intelligence guy what i want to see. i presume we have access to detainee reports from the ukrainians about what soldiers are saying. those may be dozens or hundreds of soldiers. what's the trend line there? we're intercepting communications from the russian military in ukraine. how is that changing over time? i presume we're intercepting thousands and thousands of communications. we're seeing demonstrations across russia. are those demonstrations intensifying? what's the geographic breadth? in other words, are they expanding against russia? don't take a few words saying, i see dissent in russia. take data and say are we seeing open data and does that mean the

dissent is changing? >> you mentioned the russian diplomat, the one who quit. he is taking a huge risk by speaking out like this. do you think there are others like him that will speak out? >> sure, but this is a numbers game. let's say we have another diplomat to step aside. he agrees with what putin is doing unlike the guy who stepped away. it took years for this country to understand what was going on in vietnam, for this country to understand what was going on in iraq. for this country, decades to understand that we're losing in afghanistan. where putin controls the media, one diplomat steps aside and you want to tell me that represents what people think? i don't buy it, don. i just don't buy it. >> i would say this is becoming

a long, drawn-out war. it's becoming longer, right? >> yes, yes. >> the question is, how much longer can this last? i mean, even if the majority of russians aren't against it now, do you think that could change the longer this goes on? >> i do. it's a rare moment, so tape this one, don, i'll give you a glimmer of hope. if i look at this as an intelligence analyst, i'm asking questions to go back to what i said earlier about do you see more defections from the military. when i was looking at intercepted communications from al qaeda, for example, there is a similarity here, do you see people talk differently over time? in this case do you see people in the russian military talk differently than they might have talked about three months ago? or if this goes on for years, do they talk differently over the years? do you see more demonstration from russia? i think people will eventually get the message in russia, but a few months?

no, this might take years. i am skeptical of how quick the the russian people might say, i don't like putin. >> and if it takes years, it means america will have to be involved in it for years monetarily? this as worldwide ram fixes. >> you are talking about what the folks in the military showed you, because trevor reed speaking with jake tapper about their son in prison said this. >> they have absolutely no value of human life, and that apathy permeates every level of the russian government, and that trickles down from the very top to the lowest level. prison guards inside their government, all of their police officers, all of their fsb. everyone who works for that government has no empathy for

other humans. they're completely desensitized to that. >> think about what you just saw. >> focus on this next 60 seconds. let me tell you something, don. how willing are security forces, police, paramilitary, how willing are they to engage and use violent deadly force against the population. remember, however, are willing their governance to kill their populations to maintain control. what we're hearing in your clip is that the security forces will kill people because they don't care. that's one piece. the second piece, how willing are the russian people to go out in squares and sort of city centers across russia and risk their lives to confront the government? if that increases over time, the willingness of people to engage, the unrgness of security forces to kill them, that's something to watch. we may not see that in the short

term, but watch for that in the long term. >> phil mutt ter, good to see you. so he's mortality rates, he sees things in black and bhit. >> about a third of the our population is african-american. african-americans have a higher incident of, we're not so much an outlier as it would appear. your full financial picture.. this is what it's like to have a comprehensive wealth plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. and set aside more for things like healthcare, or whatever comes down the road. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity.

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tonight senator bill cassidy of my home state of louisiana facing some backlash over comments he made about the high rate of maternal mortality among black women in that state. maternal mortality is number one -- it's a number, excuse me, of women who die while they are pregnant. cassidy is a republican and also a physician. this is what he said. >> about a third of our population is african-american. african-americans have a higher incidence of maternal mortality. if you correct our population for race, we're not as much of an outlier as it otherwise would appear. i say that not to minimize the issue but to focus the issue where it would be. for whatever reason, people of color have a higher incidence of maternal mortality. >> i want to bring in dr.

mccain, who is an emergency medical physician. doctor, good to see you again. thanks for joining. >> hi, don. >> let's do the facts here. when the senator says "correct the population" that raised some eyebrows, right? not only does louisiana have some of the worst maternal mortality rates in the country, but for every white mother that dies, four black mothers die. can you speak to the senator's phrasing there, but more importantly, talk about this disparity as well. >> i mean, wow, don, just wow. i couldn't believe the comments i was hearing. let's look at the state of louisiana compared to the rest of the united states, why don't we. its neighbor, mississippi, who is its neighbor in geography, also has a very high proportion of black residents. as a matter of fact, according to the u.s. kcensus, they have the most black residents in the united states, yet their

mortality is less than one-third of the entire population. the systemic biden administration -- systemic bias they face when they seek care is the problem they have. >> it's been climbing since the 1980s. this is all part of the a larger issue, right? can you please explain to our viewers? >> looking at the numbers, it is perplexing to me that as an industrialize d nation, our maternal mortality rates are going to the wrong direction. since 2018, the cdc has clearly documented there have been large jumps in maternal mortality rates in all groups, but especially for black women. currently black women are about three times more likely to die from pregnancy and pregnancy-related complications than any other groups. this has to do with decreased access to health care. people living in rural areas not able to seek licensed professionals in order to have birth or seeking prenatal care.

insurance issues, socioeconomic issues that also relate to social determinants of health. >> listen, we would have loved to have the senator on. we invited him on to ask him about this directly but he wasn't able to appear on the broadcast tonight. he is, however, responding on social media saying this is one comment in an interview to talk about what he's doing about bias and health care. he is proposing what is called the connective mom act, which would allow women to measure their glucose and other metrics. would that help, doctor? >> that's one step but that's likely what he should have led with. i kind of hinted at it, but the reason why there is such disparities in health care, human mortality as it relates to white and hispanic women, is a subject of bias. it's a subject we tiptoe around

as if those are bad words, but if we don't acknowledge our history and where we have come from, we can't move forward and address the problem. >> call it what it is, right? thank you, doctor, i appreciate it. we'll see you back on the program soon. >> thank you for having me, don. allegations of racism on the field, and now a yankees player will be suspended for one game. we're going to tell you what he said. you decide what to think about this. that's next. i recommend nature made vitamins because i trust their quality. they were the first to be verified by usp... ...an independent organization that setstrict quality and purity standards. nature made. the number one pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

is

jackie speier leaves big shoes to fill. i rose through the ranks to captain in the army. expanded access to education as a nonprofit leader. had a successful career in business. and as burlingame mayor during the pandemic, raised the minimum wage, increased affordable housing, and preserved our bayfront open space. i am emily beach. i'll take my real-life experience to get things done for us. i approve this message, and all these shoes too. (music throughout)

is. major league baseball fining and suspending josh donaldson for one game with what the league was calling inappropriate comments.

jackson said he called him jackie several times, referring to jackie robinson. he ald dmitted making the comme but denied they were racist and is appealing. let's start with donaldson's comments. the league is calling them inappropriate, he is calling t them racist. what do you think? >> tim anderson is one of baseball's brightest young stars, very exciting player, passionate and sometimes wears his emotions on his sleeve. in 2019 in a sports illustrated article, he said, i think of myself as this era's jackie robinson.

jackie robinson schchanged the game. i can change the game by making it more fun. okay, fair enough. i you thing as an aside, although it's an innocently poor choice of words and we shouldn't make a big deal out of it, no person in the present day should compare themselves to present day jackie robinson. no baseball player should, especially a young player without a resume, any more than a white citizen should compare themselves to a king or a modern day abraham lincoln. it just doesn't fly. so that was probably a poor choice of words. let's go to jack donaldson. he's on his sixth team in the american league. a very good player. i do not know josh donaldson, but it is well known around baseball that he has a prickly personality, he's a provocative guy, he's very edgy. he's had run-ins with umpires,

teammates, opponents. that's not unheard of among players, but he has a pattern of that. okay. when he read the "sports illustrated" thing, he says he started calling tim anderson jackie every time their paths crossed. now, that's just designed to dig at him. and he has to be more aware. there's a thousand ways. if you want to be obnoxious, if you want to be a bench jockey, if you want to get on the guy's nerves, there is a certain territory. everybody who is obnoxious is not necessarily a racist. that's the background and there's more recent history. ten days ago in a game in chicago, anderson dove back into third base. donaldson is the yankees' third baseman. he put a high tag on him and tried to push him off the bag and they got in each other's faces again. so there's a history there. donaldson called anderson over

the weekend "jackie" more than once. someone made this point and it's a good point. if he says he said it in a kidding way, which is his point, you kid with your friends, you kid with your buddies, you don't kid with people you dislike, and he obviously dislikes him. donaldson did apologize afterwards. >> i want to hear from him, but let me just say this. there is a difference if someone is a friend, but you shouldn't just say, hey, jackie. i understand they have a history. this is donaldson talking about the incident after the game. >> i called him jackie, so let me give you a context of that. 2019 he said in an interview he's newt jackie robinson of baseball and he's going to bring back fun to the game. 2019 when we played with atlanta, we actually joked about

that on the game. i don't know what's changed -- and i've said it to him in years past, not in any manner, just joking around for the fact he calls himself jackie robinson. so, you know, if something has changed from that, my meaning of that is not any term of trying to be racist by any fact of the matter. it was just off an interview of what he called himself. >> okay. again, look, i stick by what i said before. just don't do it. even if you -- >> don't do it. >> don't do it. >> you have to be more aware. don, you have to be more aware. if you're even a minimally aware person at present, and donaldson has been in the league for a dozen years, he's 36 years old, you have to be more aware. if he's an edgy guy, which he is, and if he likes to get on opponents and if he rubs a lot

of people the wrong way, there are a thousand ways to get on people, a thousand ways to rub people the wrong way. don't choose this one. >> and it sounds like he's making excuses for something. again, as you said, you should be more aware. do you think the punishment fits the crime, though? >> yeah, i guess so. i think it's more of a statement than anything else. now, he's appealed it. you're allowed to do that. he can continue to play while -- >> do you think it will stick? >> the appeal will be unsuccessful. the penalty will stick, but coincidentally he went on the covid list. he tested positive so he can't play for a while because he tested positive for covid. when he's able to play, when the covid shis behind him, then he n appeal the decision but i'm sure it will stick. >> oh, boy. thanks for coming on. >> thank you, don. see you. new cases of monkeypox in certain states all being investigated right now.

we'll tell you what you can expect with this latest outbreak. thatat's next. covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days from when symptoms first appear. if you have symptoms of covid-19, even if they're mild don't wait, get tested quickly.

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. . the cdc announcing today there is one confirmed case of monkeypox in the united states and at least six other suspected cases. the confirmed case involves a man in massachusetts. a doctor with the cdc says that we can expect additional cases to be reported going forward. turns out the united states has a stockpile of two types of vaccine to treat monkeypox because the vaccines are also used to treat smallpox. president biden was asked about the monkeypox today, saying that americans should be aware of the disease but not be overly concerned about it. >> i just don't think it rises to the level of the kind of concern that existed with

covid-19 and the smallpox vaccine works for it. but i think people should be careful. >> the cdc says monkeypox is not a sexually transmitted disease, but it can be spread through sexual or intimate contact. it can also be spread by sharing a bed or clothing with an infected person. up next, one hour till election day. crucial primaries taking place in multiple states, and election officials are already reporting record turnout for early voting. this is how it feels t to hae a dedicated fidelity advisor looking at your full financiaial pictur. this is what it's like to have a comprehensive wealth plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. and set aside more for things like healthcare, or whatever comes down the road. this is "the planning effect" from fidelity. ♪ my name is austin james.

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♪("i've been everywhere" by johnny cash) ♪ ♪i've traveled every road in this here land!♪ ♪i've been everywhere, man.♪ ♪i've been everywhere, man.♪ ♪of travel i've had my share, man.♪ ♪i've been everywhere.♪ ♪

jackie speier leaves big shoes to fill. i rose through the ranks to captain in the army. expanded access to education as a nonprofit leader. had a successful career in business. and as burlingame mayor during the pandemic, raised the minimum wage, increased affordable housing,

and preserved our bayfront open space. i am emily beach. i'll take my real-life experience to get things done for us. i approve this message, and all these shoes too. there's much more happening here on "don lemon tonight." just an hour until primary election day in several key states. let's get right to our cnn political commentators. the former mayor of atlanta, keisha lance bottoms, and former congressman charlie dent. good evening to both of you.

charlie, pence is backing governor kemp. trump is backing the former senator perdue out of revenge because he is mad at kemp for not doing more to overturn the 2020 election results. yet kemp in the latest polls leading big-time. what do you expect to see tomorrow night? >> i expect to see governor kemp win renomination rather handily. mike pence obviously jumped in here pretty late, and it's pretty clear what his intentions are. he's annoyed with the former president, donald trump, over the january 6th situation, and so pence is going to go in there and show that he's on the winning side here and prove that trump's endorsement doesn't mean anything in the state of georgia, at least in the governor's race. so pence is clearly considering a run for the white house and even made clear today that, you know, the former president's decision about running won't affect his. so this looks like they're starting to -- they're baring their fangs at one another, the

former president and the former vice president. and it looks like mike pence is going to come out the winner in georgia. >> on the democratic side, stacey abrams is running unopposed in the gubernatorial race. yet all the gop candidates have directed fire at her, including this attack from perdue. watch this. >> did y'all see what stacey said this weekend? she said georgia's the worst place in the country to live. hey, she ain't from here. let her go back where she came from if she doesn't like it here. >> go back! >> the only thing she wants is to be president of the united states. she doesn't care about the people of georgia. that's clear. when she told black farmers, you don't need to be on the farm, and she told black workers in hospitality, she is demeaning her own race when it comes to that. i am really over this. she should never be considered material for a governor of any state, much less our state where she hates to live. >> so go back to where she came from. she was born in wisconsin, by the way, raised in mississippi, went to high school in georgia.

what is he getting at? what did you make of those comments? >> well, i -- i can't begin to imagine what he is getting at, but i do know that anytime you hear someone say "go back to where you came from," you make assumptions about what they mean. so i believe that he was likely signaling something there without actually saying it. but, listen, it's very clear that they are concerned about stacey abrams. even in the course of this primary race, when kemp and perdue should be concerned about one another, they have continuously focused on stacey abrams. so this is going to be a matchup that the entire country will watch, and it will all begin as soon as the polls close on tomorrow. >> charlie, you know, just real quick, what did you -- you know, you've run races before. what did you make of those comments? how did they hit you when yo